If anyone tries to put Railroad Earth’s music into one category, it could never happen. A bluegrass band? Sure, the elements are there. A country band? It could work. A jam band? If you’ve been to a show, it’s definitely a possibility.
For founding member and violinist/vocalist Tim Carbone, the band’s unique cross-breeding of nearly every type of genre available has been the most inspirational force when breaking away from every band’s favorite passion — playing live.
“I always want to see the band use all its colors,” he said recently. “We have a lot of multi-instrumentalists in the band, and we have a lot of ability to pull off a lot of things recently. It’s all a big stew — that’s how we make our sound, but we use a lot of different elements. My approach to making records is you’re basically a ‘slave to the song’ but frame the song in the most beautiful possible way and don’t limit your colors to do that. We have a lot of colors available on our palette.”
New Jersey-based Railroad Earth — Carbone, singer/guitarist Todd Sheaffer, multi-instrumentalist Andy Goessling, percussionist Carey Harmon, bassist Johnny Grubb and mandolin player/vocalist John Skehan — is set to enter the studio for some recording sessions right at the beginning of the New Year. Until then it’s focusing on live touring, including its annual Thanksgiving weekend shows at the Sherman Theater in Stroudsburg this Friday and Saturday. This year marks the third time Railroad Earth will be playing the Sherman, and Carbone, when reminded of other local venues, has a soft spot for the historic theater.
“Well, Penn’s Peak is a beautiful venue and we love it, but it’s a little further away from our neck of the woods,” he said. “The Kirby Center — to be honest with you, they recently came on our radar. We had been making inquiries there before, and nothing really came of it. … But the Sherman is very close to us — it’s super close to me, like five minutes from my house. We like what they’re doing there. … There’s lots of nice restaurants there on Main Street, plus two hotels that are in walking distance of the venue. … There’s lots of really nice things for people to do with nature, or they could just hang out in the hotel rooms (laugh.)
“Basically, the location is good for our fan base and people who live in the tri-state area.”
While a break from touring to concentrate on the studio is a noticeable change for the band, another, slightly bigger shift happened last Monday when longtime upright bassist Grubb announced he will be leaving the band. The move, which will go into effect Jan. 1, might have been predictable for several years, but Carbone feels the earlier rumblings have helped make the transition a bit easier.
“You know, he got married and had his first child a couple years ago, and now he’s having his second child,” he said. “I think a lot of pressure has come on him to try and figure out how he’s going to mitigate our touring. He first approached the band saying how he had to limit his touring next year, and we were trying to figure out if that could be something that’s possible. He just basically made the decision that he didn’t think it would be possible. …
“You can’t get wigged out by this stuff. It is what it is, and people are going to do what they’re going to do. … No one’s freaking out. I think a lot of our fans somehow got the idea that we’re freaking out. We’re not — everything’s cool.”
For the remainder of Grubb’s tenure, the band will send him out in style with some solid touring including the Sherman run a multi-night jaunt for New Year’s including his last show, at the Aladdin Theatre in Portland, Ore., on New Year’s Eve.
As for the Sherman, Carbone says the opening acts — Nellie McKay on Friday and local bluegrass favorites Cabinet on Saturday — will help elevate the yearly party into two different but fun nights for the fans and the band.
“We always try to put on a good show. Our goal is to wreck the joint every time,” he said. “Having said that, yeah, there’s something really cool about the Thanksgiving shows. There’s a very warm energy, and at this years’ shows we have a couple of really great opening acts that are going to make the shows really cool and unique. … Overall, the shows are going to be special because of the way we’ve assembled the two acts that compliment each other in different ways.”
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Railroad Earth, w/ Nellie McKay on Friday and Cabinet on Saturday, Friday Nov. 27, Saturday Nov. 28, 8 p.m., at Sherman Theater (524 Main St., Stroudsburg). Tickets: $30 single show, $50 both nights, at box office, railroadearth.com. Info: www.railroadearth.com www.shermantheater.com
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